Monadnock Speedway Mini Stock champion Kimmy Rivet poses with her No. 99 car at her "Toys for Tots" drive Dec. 15 at Church Street Dental in Chicopee.Jason Remillard, The Republican

It's not often that a race car is parallel parked on a Chicopee city street, especially a hot pink one.

Kimmy Rivet's pink-and-black No. 99 Mini Stock, which she drove to the 2012 Monadnock Speedway championship, was the main attraction last Saturday at the "Toys for Tots" event she hosted at her workplace, Church Street Dental.

Rivet, 22, collected new, unwrapped toys for the U.S. Marines' annual drive to benefit less fortunate children. The two Marines who assisted Rivet at her event were in their glory being around a race car as well as a winning driver. They even helped Rivet's father, Ron, push the car back onto the trailer at the end of the two-hour toy drive.

"On our offseason, we wanted to do something to give back to the community and everything," Rivet said after signing autographs for the Marines and other passers-by. "I got together with my boss (Walter Gazda, DMD) and we decided to do a Toys for Tots drive here. It's our first time."

Cana Korean Restaurant provided food for the event, which took place across the street from the Chicopee Public Safety Complex. Rivet, of Chicopee, is an assistant under Dr. Gazda at Church Street Dental.
PRO STOCK SLATE: The Granite State Pro Stock Series announced its nine-race 2013 schedule on Thursday, and it features trips to two tracks that were not a part of the inaugural 2012 slate.

Devil's Bowl Speedway in West Haven, Vt., hosts its first GSPSS date June 7, while Riverside Speedway in Groveton, N.H., will hold a race exactly three months later.

The season will begin (May 4) and end (Sept. 14) at Canaan Fair Speedway in Canaan, N.H. As reported earlier this month, Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H., will hold events on May 25 and Aug. 3. Hudson (N.H.) Speedway is the other track with two dates - June 23 and Aug. 25.

The other event will take place Aug. 17 at Star Speedway in Epping, N.H. The nine races are four more than were run in 2012.

SPECIAL HONORS: At last weekend's Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway awards banquet, Easthampton's Eric LeClair received the Most Improved Driver award for the Sunoco Modified division. LeClair, 58, finished in the top 10 in points in both the Sunoco Modifieds and LKQ/Keystone Lite Modifieds.